Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction

Download this Video The most difficult opponent we face is often the “dreaded pusher” – but in spite of this players consistency, this players movement, and often how “poor we think they look” – often the simplest issue here is that their soft floating moon balls deprive you and I of the rhythm we get […]

Both Roger Federer and Bianca Andreescu square the face to the incoming ball – though still moving forward they have both “aligned the wall to the ball.”                   Tom Stow often introduced the simplicity of the volley technique by using a stool or chair such that the […]

http://dg2e30wx7kvei.cloudfront.net/eti_network/ETI_TheOtherSideOfTheNet.mp4 Download this Video Some time ago I was in Sacramento watching the Power Shares tour event – Courier, Sampras, McEnroe and Blake. James Blake beat John McEnroe in the finals – Mac having beaten Courier, and Blake easily beat an injured Pete Sampras (who was looking very slow on court compared to the other […]

Watching the ball - moving into position - you can always listen to the outcome!

The common problem I see at the club, as well as on television, is where the server flexes at the waist at the hit - more or less jackknifing to create a little more ball speed. And this action creates both forward and downward forces - and is generally associated with netted serves.

Agility = moving quickly and easily.  We know when we are gliding, we know when we are moving heavily. Equally, when can see on the adjacent court who moves well and who does not. But often more than strength training or explosive movement, the secret can be in a subtle unweighting where the body leads […]

Pete Sampras, "I won 7 Wimbledon titles because I had the best second serve in the game." The second serve is about spin that will make the ball curve down as it crosses the net.  Yes it may corner the opponent and either swing them wide and out of court, or kick up into their backhand.

Consider the critical 24 inch hitting zone when creating topspin on a forehand or on a serve – to create this spin the racquet must be swung up from beneath the ball (12 inches) but carry upward after impact (another 12 inches) to create the rolling spin that more and more of us want in […]

Ball control – ours is a game of accuracy, of consistency, but equally it is a game of timing for the opponent will send us shots of varying spin, speed, length and difficulty. Timing describes the relation between the incoming ball and the swinging racquet – and certainly the entire game revolves around the moment […]

https://dg2e30wx7kvei.cloudfront.net/eti_podcast/ETI_042_Measure_Twice_Cut_Once.mp4 The carpenter measures twice to cut once, to make sure the cut is accurate, for if too much is cut off that mistake cannot be undone. In tennis consider measuring as preparing first to the side for the incoming ball, but then to measure precisely the height of the backswing such that the racquet […]